Society is becoming increasingly aware of a need to take care of the environment. There are a number of ways of reducing the impact of humans on the environment. An often spoken adage is the need to “Reduce-Reuse-Recycle”. The third “R”, recycling, poses a number of challenges.
One of the challenges is that different materials are subject to different recycling processes at different recycling plants. This means that the materials need to be sorted. If the materials are sorted by the consumers, the need for a sorting plant may be reduced or eliminated.
Many communities have systems in place to facilitate sorting by consumers. For example, many communities provide a “Blue Box” for plastics and metals, a “Black Box” for paper and cardboard, and a “Green Box” for compostable items. These programs may be for both residential areas and for businesses. However, these various boxes take up a significant amount of space. This is particularly the case in apartments, condominiums and office buildings where there is limited space for the various containers that would allow consumers to sort items and maximize what can be recycled.